Llama 3.2 3B Instruct on Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified)

Yes — M3 Pro (18GB Unified) handles Llama 3.2 3B Instruct well at Q8_0 — 35 tok/s. Solid daily-driver performance on 18 GB VRAM.

Model Size

3.21B

Device VRAM

18 GB

Bandwidth

150 GB/s

Quantization

Q8_0

Benchmarks

Performance by Quantization

OwnRig currently has one published compatibility entry for Llama 3.2 3B Instruct on Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) at Q8_0. This is the best supported pairing we can stand behind today.

Quantization	Speed	TTFT	Fits in VRAM	Rating	Confidence
Q8_0	35 tok/s	220ms	✓ Yes	Good	estimated

Notes

Q8_0

Slower than M4 Pro due to half the bandwidth. Usable for light workloads.

About Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (3.21B) is a chat, coding, ai coding, reasoning model. Ultra-lightweight model that runs on virtually any GPU. Surprisingly capable for its size: good at summarization, simple coding tasks, and quick chat. The default choice when speed matters more than depth.

View all Llama 3.2 3B Instruct hardware options →

About Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified)

Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) has 18 GB at 150 GB/s. Available in MacBook Pro 14", MacBook Pro 16".

See all models Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) can run →

Estimate method: MLX performance estimates. Reference hardware source: github.com (2026-03-15)

Performance varies by driver version, inference engine, quantization method, context length, and system configuration. Figures shown are estimates based on community benchmarks and may not reflect your exact setup. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners. OwnRig is independent and not affiliated with any hardware or AI model provider.